FCC finally lets us tell phone company to block those robocalls

Sn Francisco Chronicle

June 21, 2015

Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke, Associated Press

In this photo taken March 17, 2015, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Tired of automated phone calls urging you to vote for a certain candidate or pitching a cruise vacation? You can now tell your phone company that federal regulators say it's OK to block them. The FCC on Thursday agreed that Verizon, AT&T and other telecommunication carriers aren't duty-bound to connect those annoying “robocalls” if a consumer doesn't want them. Consumer groups and several states had asked the federal regulator to clarify this point because phone companies have said they worry about running afoul of rules that require them to connect every call. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

In this photo taken March 17, 2015, Federal Communications...

The Federal Communications Commission has declared that you can tell your phone company to block those annoying automated phone calls, known as robocalls, that keep your phone ringing. The question is, will the phone companies do it?

More than a decade ago, you may have signed up on the Do Not Call Registry. Congress passed a law mandating one after hearing from too many constituents and consumer groups about unwanted phone calls. Because many of the calls are misleading or downright scams, there was a legal interest in stopping them as well as a public interest in the sanctity of our precious headspace.

Well, the Do Not Call list didn’t work.

Unauthorized phone calls remain a top consumer complaint across the country. The scammers and marketers have simply found ways to move faster than the law. Citizens can block individual numbers, but it’s fairly easy for callers to forge their identifying data — and they do.

The phone companies claim that the problem is a technological one, and it is — in part.

Marketers and robocallers have certainly figured out ways to get around the existing laws that already forbid them from running up your data plan or interrupting your dinner.

The federal government probably doesn’t have the firepower to stop them, either. The Federal Trade Commission is so fed up that it’s offered prizes for people who come up with technical solutions to block these nuisances.

But anti-robocalling technologies do exist, and it’s probably possible for phone companies to do a better job of blocking them than they’ve been doing.

Understanding that an expectation of absolutely no automated calls is unrealistic, then, the phone companies can do better — if they choose to make the investment of effort and resources that such a commitment will take.

Congress may have to eventually persuade them to do so.

In the meantime, we urge consumer groups to continue the pressure on phone companies and elected officials when it comes to this issue. It’s the only way to ensure that these annoying phone calls — often for our elected officials’ own campaigns — stay on their minds.